


I'll catch you when you fall

by the_winterfloof_17



Series: Brightest Blue ever seen [4]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Awesome James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Awesome Pepper Potts, BAMF Pepper Potts, BAMF Tony Stark, Fluff and Humor, Happy Hogan is a Good Bro, James "Rhodey" Rhodes & Tony Stark Friendship, James "Rhodey" Rhodes is a Good Bro, M/M, Minor Happy Hogan/Pepper Potts, Not Canon Compliant, Not Iron Man 3 Compliant, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Bucky Barnes, Protective James "Rhodey" Rhodes, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Winter Soldier Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:14:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26230015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_winterfloof_17/pseuds/the_winterfloof_17
Summary: While driving, Tony could still feel eyes on him, in which Tony looked at the Soldier before looking at the road again. “What is it, murder kitten?”“Who is Bucky?” Tony’s heart stopped short for a half of a second, he really, really should’ve known this conversation was going to happen sooner or later. He just hoped that Steve wouldn’t kill him for this. “Ok, well, for starters, Bucky is actually you. Your full name is Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, not really a fan of the nickname “Bucky” though.”Or: the one where Tony threatens terrorists, people turn into fireplaces, and he brings the Soldier along with him because he's a good boyfriend.
Relationships: James "Bucky" Barnes/Tony Stark
Series: Brightest Blue ever seen [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1855435
Comments: 4
Kudos: 192





	I'll catch you when you fall

**Author's Note:**

> Added some humor to this, plus some fluff so enjoy that too. Also, I was writing part of this story at like 3 am and got lazy writing Steve's name so I just called him Steeb.

_LA, I'm upset, I have complaints, listen to me  
They say I came from money and I didn't  
And I didn't even have love, and it's unfair  
LA, I sold my life rights for a big check and I'm upset  
And now I can't sleep at night and I don't know why_

LA Who am I to Love You? - Lana Del Rey 

… 

After the Avengers were able to narrowly avoid a battle with Loki, they all went back to their own devices. Clint and Natasha went back to the tower and stayed there while Tony would make trips between New York and Malibu periodically. Which explains why he was here, running on more than seventy-two hours of sleep and working on another Iron Man suit. This would be the Mark 42, and so far it was going well, as expected at least. He had placed computer chips or “Micro Repeaters” into his arm that would allow him to call the suit by pieces. 

Jarvis did warn him though that he probably shouldn’t be doing this while running on seventy-two hours of no sleep but hey, he was Tony Stark. So here he was, testing out the new Mark 42 suit. 

“Focus up ladies. Good evening, and welcome to the birthing suite. I am pleased to announce the imminent arrival of your bouncing badass baby brother. Mark 42, Autonomous prehensile propulsion suit test. Initialize sequence.” Tony held out his right hand, waiting for the gauntlet to come towards him, not noticing his familiar shadow staring at him from afar, amusement hiding in his eyes. The pieces came flying at him, one piece hitting one of the other suits at the same time. The Soldier watched on with amusement, watching as Tony received all the pieces before getting hit and falling down. He walked over just as Tony was throwing the helmet off his head. 

“Hey Winter Wonderland, what are ya doing here?” The Soldier rolled his eyes at the man before pecking him on the cheek and helping him. “Котенок, when was the last time you slept?”

“Uh--”

“Sir has been awake for over seventy-two hours.” The Soldier nodded before glaring at Tony, who looked down at his feet as if he was getting a scolding. The Soldier huffed before picking Tony up, walking upstairs into his bedroom. Tony lay like a starfish on the bed, his head between the pillows as the Soldier took his shoes off and then unzipped his pants, dragging Tony to the end of the bed. “Woah, there Soldier! This is not the way to get into my pants!” The Soldier rolled his eyes before pulling his pants off, leaving Tony just in his boxer briefs. Tony was too tired to really care that the Soldier was still in his Kevlar vest and pants. The Soldier was more caring recently since the events of New York and his visits became more frequent. Tony had still not told Pepper or Rhodey who the person was that was able to make him eat on schedule or sleep, that was between him and Jarvis, alone. 

The Soldier sat Tony up, taking his shirt off while kissing the center of the arc reactor and letting Tony go back to lying like a starfish on the bed. The Soldier unlaced his combat boots and took out all of his guns and knives and pulled Tony under the sheets. Tony tucked his head into the Soldier’s neck, inhaling the lovely scent of gunpowder and metal. The Soldier wrapped his metal arm around Tony’s waist and from there, they finally fell asleep, the view of the starry night sky illuminating the room.

**_______________**

The second the Soldier was gone, there was a new enemy that Tony had to deal with, the Mandarin. The guy was hacking into TVs and doing crazy evil things that he wasn’t paying attention to at all. What was more important at the moment was the scandal of hearing War Machine being changed to Iron Patriot, which made Tony gag the second he heard it. Rhodey didn’t even like it but said War Machine was too aggressive. For this alone, this was the reason why Tony had fought so hard to get the government’s hands off his suits in the first place.

After nearly having an anxiety attack in the restaurant, Tony had flown back home, relaxing once he had gotten out of the suit and collapsed onto the couch. Considering he still did have PTSD from the cave thing, he couldn’t sleep nowadays. There were also the nightmares of what if they hadn’t gotten Loki to hand over the scepter? What would he do without his Soldier boy? 

His phone rang as he looked at the ocean from his balcony, picking it up while realizing it was Happy. Oh boy, this was gonna be fun.

“Hello?” 

“Is this the Forehead of Security?” Tony bit his lip from laughing too hard at Happy not knowing how to use 

“What--? You know, look… I got a real job. What do you want?” After that, Tony tried not to roll his eyes at Happy being paranoid about his girlfriend being shown a _brain_. Worst comes to worst, the guy shows more than his brain but Tony kept that comment to himself. It was also clear that Happy stil didn’t know how to flip the camera to show what he wanted to show to Tony. Quoting Happy himself, he wasn’t a “tech genius” like Tony was and Tony actually rolled his eyes at him. He didn’t really care about what was happening until Happy mentioned Aldrich Killian.

He remembered meeting that guy in like 99’ at some science conference in Switzerland, claiming to be a big fan of his work and wanted him to join his organization, AIM, (Advanced Idea Mechanics) , a bad name really. But at the moment, Happy was reporting to him about “this guy being shifty” and doing a background check on the guy. Tony was trying not to laugh too hard at what he was saying to get Happy angry so he just listened and nodded his head. 

When the call finally ended, Tony couldn’t help but laugh at what was happening but couldn’t blame Happy for being paranoid, he had just started dating Pepper two months again. He couldn’t blame Happy for being a little paranoid seeing other men hanging around Pepper everyday. At the moment, he was popping open a nice bottle of white wine, grabbing two glasses if the Soldier showed and sat on his couch in the living room. Even though there was new trouble out in the world, the least Tony could do was relax for a little before he had to go back to being a superhero. So that was how Tony was spending his evening while waiting for Pepper to come over, a giant rabbit waiting outside for her. 

A scream and the sound of a bullet rang through the house before Pepper came running in, an angry Winter Soldier walking right behind. “Hey Pep! How was your day?” Ignoring the way she looked so shaken while the Soldier walked past her and collapsed onto the couch, almost making Tony spill his wine. Pepper looked at him expectantly, hands on her hips, waiting for a response while Tony made the Soldier sit up. 

“Pepper, this is Winter, Winter baby, this is Pepper.” He gestured between the two of them before going back to sipping his wine, pouring a glass for the Soldier and laying against him. All the while, Pepper was looking frantically between the two before breaking the silence, “Tony, no.”

“Tony, yes.”

“Do you even know who he is?”

“No, Pep, he’s a prostitute from the streets. Of course, I do! I’ve known him since I was seven so ha!” To finish it off, Tony stuck his tongue out while the Soldier just rolled his eyes before kissing Tony’s temple. Pepper rolled her eyes before sitting down, stealing Tony’s wine and sipping at it, “oh, did you like the rabbit?”

“I didn’t have enough time to admire it before Winter shot a bullet through it.” Tony looked to the Soldier, who shrugged and continued on drinking his wine. Pepper gave up on interrogating him, leaving the Soldier and himself alone together. Tony knew that the Soldier would have to leave soon, in mere seconds probably, but tried to enjoy every second that he could before his warm presence left Tony. When he fell asleep and woke up three hours later with nothing but the cold accompanying him, Tony went upstairs to his bedroom and collapsed. Everything was fine, there were no nightmares tonight, or that’s what Tony thought before waking up to the Mark 42 aiming its repulsors at him. 

Tony’s eyes widened before he made a motion for it to power down and break apart. Sighing in relief, Tony tried to go back but there was a bad feeling in his stomach that made Tony not want to sleep. He got up, trying to calm the nerves that were buzzing about, missing the loudness of movies playing that Clint would make him watch. Or Natasha’s Russian Soap operas that she made him watch if he couldn’t sleep. He missed all of that which is why Tony decided not to go to the workshop, but instead outside, walk down the beach and look up at the stars. 

He grabbed a blanket, and walked through the front of the mansion, walking down a set of wooden stairs to the beach, feeling the sand beneath his toes. Setting out the blanket, Tony sat down, adjusting and smoothing the blanket over before laying down. He looked up at the stars, they were beautiful tonight, gleaming down at him sharply, as if they were smiling almost. That’s when his phone buzzes, Jarvis alerting him that Happy has been in an accident and that he’s at the hospital. Quickly, Tony ran up the stairs again, running to his car, already texting Pepper he was on his way to the hospital. Once he arrived, honestly Tony wasn’t afraid to say that all Hell broke loose. 

Pepper was freaking out the entire time, sobbing every time Tony tried to ask a question of what happened. It ended up being that he sent Pepper home, told her to sleep and let Tony figure this all out. With a shove out the door, a pat on the back later, Tony was sitting next to Happy’s bed, looking over everything that happened. The nurses had told him that there was an explosion of sorts, and that Happy somehow got in the middle of it all. But Tony knew that Happy wouldn’t just be there for no reason, he always had a reason for something. He just prayed that Happy hadn’t tried to play with fire over Aldrich Killian and his stupid company. 

He ended up staying there the rest of the night, turning on Happy’s favorite show, Downton Abbey while working on his Stark Pad. Rhodey texted him, warning him that there would be press outside, because apparently because of the attack, everyone was thinking it was set up by the Mandarin. This was all making Tony want to bang his head against a wall repeatedly. One attack and everyone is saying it’s the Mandarin. Tony was so annoyed by it all, so he did what he was famous for, which was saying things that were not appropriate and things that Pepper wouldn’t approve of. 

Walking outside the hospital, news reporters and cameras ran in his face, making Tony blink a few times from the flashes. There were questions being asked, cameras and phones barging into his personal space, and Tony was getting more and more annoyed by the minute. Then it all goes to shit because some people just love to push his buttons repeatedly, and it’s when Tony is doing a great job of answering what he can to the people. 

“Hey, Mr. Stark. When is somebody gonna kill this guy?” Tony turns around, glad that he’s wearing his sunglasses to avoid showing the glare he has towards the man. Clearly the man can tell he got Tony Stark annoyed now, “I’m just saying.” After that, well… if you know Tony Stark, you would know exactly what he ended up saying, and no it wasn’t including pleasuring himself at all.

**_______________**

Tony is learning one thing right now, and that’s the fact that you really shouldn’t give your address to anyone in particular, especially a terrorist. But at the moment, he was starting to finally understand bits and pieces of what Happy was following. How Happy had survived an attack at the temperature of 3,000 degrees Celsius, Tony would never know. But now he discovered that this wasn’t the only one so that made life kinda easier. Learning two things, both people that started the explosion were military, second, the attacks were both 3,000 degrees Celsius, so Tennessee, Tony Stark is coming over.

Everything was going great until the freakin doorbell rang, which made Tony groan, “are we still at ding-dong? We’re supposed to be on total--” banging his fist against the table, “security lockdown. Come on, I threatened a terrorist. Who is that?”

“There’s only so much I can do, sir, when you give the world’s press your home address.” What shocked him even more was when a woman he slept with once, Maya Hansen, came knocking at his door. Tony came in wearing the armour, about ready to blast her when he realized who she was. All he caught on was it was urgent and she needed to be alone with him somewhere, “not here” as she said.

“Normally, I’d go for that sort of thing, but now I’m in a committed relationship. It’s--”

“Well, Котенок, I didn’t know it was official already.” Tony and Maya both jumped at the presence of the Soldier, who’s gun pointed towards Maya while raising an eyebrow at Tony while he pointed a finger at the Soldier. “With him.” Maya looked over the Soldier before looking back at Tony, “I was gonna say you weren’t gonna last the week but I think I’m wrong now.” 

“I’ll be fine.” He stated before Maya and the Soldier both said at the same time: “No you won’t be.” He rolled his eyes at Maya before slightly pouting at the Soldier, “I thought you were on my side, Winter.” Wearing the mask, he couldn’t tell if the Soldier was smirking but he was rolling his eyes at Tony before lowering his rifle. 

“Котенок, I am, but you told the world your home address, so I’m here now.” 

“Oh, seriously, now you decide to show? Does Hydra even know you're here?” The Soldier pointed his gun at Tony’s shoulder aggressively, “do shut up before I shoot you myself.” Before they could say more, Maya pointed to the tv, “uh, is that supposed to be happening?” Tony looked to the tv, before an explosion came, knocking the wind right out of him. Flying in the air, he made the gesture for the suit, the pieces flying towards him while the Soldier grabbed Maya as they all hit the wall harshly. Tony quickly sat up, running in time to protect the Soldier and Maya from the wall collapsing onto them. Before any of them could say anything, another explosion came, making Tony go flying, _literally_ against the opposite direction of the Soldier and Maya. “Go! I’m right behind you!” The Soldier nodded quickly before picking Maya up and walking away, Tony following until the floor started to crumble away. 

Thankful that the Soldier didn’t stop, Tony was about to stand up when the rest of the house tilted forward, making him fall backwards towards the ocean. It was hard to aim at what was hitting him repeatedly if he was falling down, even the fact that the new Mark was a prototype didn’t help either. He was able to narrowly avoid his piano running down towards him before being able to aim it at one of the helicopters, hitting it instantly. 

“That’s one.” Running up, he saw another one pass over the open roof, while trying to get his repulsors to work accordingly, which wasn’t helped by Jarvis at all. “Sir, the suit is not combat ready,” Jarvis warned, while Tony was trying to figure out why this shouldn’t have been a problem at all. Opening the panel quickly, he threw one of the small missiles right at the helicopter, using his repulsor to hit it. “That’s two.” Ok, he jinxed it right when the helicopter fell, collapsing the first floor of the house and making Tony land in the workshop or what was once the workshop. 

He watched momentarily as DUM-E, Butterfingers, and U all tried to grab onto each other, whirring weakly as they fell to the ocean. Tony was heartbroken even more, even more so when his favorite car fell next, then his suits were all destroyed. Honestly, them destroying his house altogether wasn’t doing anything for Tony except for destroying everything he made with hard work, some tears, and love. Destroying his robots broke him enough before he realized he was falling down too. Falling into the water, he didn’t have enough time to stop things from falling on top of him, and he couldn’t stop the metal wiring from tying around his neck, dragging him to the ocean floor. 

The hard wiring was keeping him from getting up and he started to panic when water started to fill the suit. Tony couldn’t move, and he was stuck underwater, something keeping him from getting up, and all of his fears were coming back now. He was just able to remove the wiring before more things fell on top of him, making him groan as he tried pushing the concrete blocks off him. Only getting his hand out of the pile, Tony was ready to give up then when he felt a hand pull him up, making him gasp before he was physically being pulled from the pile. 

Opening his eyes, he saw the Soldier holding his breath, before slapping Tony across the face angrily. Tony rolled his eyes, grabbing the Soldier by the waist before they flew out of the water, and into the sky, right into the clouds. Well, at least they could enjoy the beautiful sky while they were up here…

**_______________**

Tony groaned when he heard banging on the faceplate along with an alarm, he groaned, finally opening his eyes and looking around.

“Tony! Wake up!” 

“Sir, that’s the emergency alert triggered by the power dropping below 5%.” 

“Oh…” 

“Tony!” The Soldier and Tony both screamed as they bounced onto the road before flying into the trees, the Soldier holding tightly on the suit until they finally crashed into the snow. The Soldier panted heavily before taking the faceplate off, slapping Tony across the face, _again_. “You are an idiot, Котенок. Anyone ever told you that?” 

“Yes, on multiple occasions, Winter.” Tony looked around, a little dazed from what just happened along with the slap to the face, before realizing it was snowing. “It’s snowing, right? Where are we, upstate?”

“We are five miles outside of Rose Hill, Tennessee.” 

“Why?! Jarvis, not my idea.” He heard the Soldier snort next to him, waiting for an answer from Jarvis, “I prepared a flight plan. This was the location.” Tony groaned before sitting up against a tree, mumbling, “who asked you,” while the Soldier looked around. 

“Open the suit.” 

“I-I, Sir I think I-I’m malfunctioning---” 

“Just open it, J.” The suit opened, welcoming Tony with freezing cold wind as snowflakes fell into his hair. “Oh Jesus, that’s brisk,” rubbing his hands together fiercely, Tony looked around, noticing the Soldier looking up at the dark sky, the stars were shining perfectly as snowflakes fell. He vaguely heard Jarvis shutting down but focused on the view he had before him, an assassin looking curiously at snowflakes like he’d never seen them before. Boy, did Tony wish he had a camera right now to capture a moment like this. 

“Alright, Winter Wonderland, looks like we’re walking.” The Soldier slung his gun onto his shoulder, helping Tony pull the suit along with them. There was a comfortable silence between the two as they walked until there was a gas station, Tony gladly dropped the suit on the ground, stealing a blanket from a Native American statue, ignoring the Soldier’s incredulous look towards him. “Unless you plan on sharing that warm body heat of yours, I’m using this.” 

Finding a telephone, Tony used what change he had while the Soldier waited outside, leaning against the small telephone booth playing with one of his knives. “Hey Pep, listen I don’t know when you're gonna get this message but I need you to be careful. If it makes you feel any better, I got Frosty outside with me, but--hey look, if a girl with brown hair, uh freckles, comes by, let her in. Her name’s Maya and she’ll probably ask for your help or something. But--just lay low, kay Pep? Be careful and uh, make sure Happy recovers. Um, I’m sorry I can’t come home yet, there’s a few things I have to figure out. I’ll be ok though.” Hanging up, he opened the door in time to see the Soldier coming out of the gas station with a few snacks and water. They split the food while walking back into the snow until they came to a stop at a home, both looking at each other before the Soldier kicked the door open, his gun aimed at anything that moved. He gestured for Tony to come in, rolling his eyes the entire time while hauling the suit onto a worn out couch, making it comfortable before resting his legs on the suit’s lap and laying against the arm of the couch. 

“Relax for like two seconds, Winter, it won’t kill you.” The Soldier only nodded, physically manhandling Tony onto his lap before sitting down. Tony leaned against the Soldier, resting his head in the crook of the Soldier’s neck, muscles slowly relaxing bit by bit. The Soldier frowned though, grabbing Tony’s arm and looking back at Tony. “Don’t give me that look, Soldier. I can feel your murder glare from here,” huffing, the Soldier let go of his arm, wrapping his arms around Tony and closing his eyes.

**_______________**

Twenty minutes and a few kisses later, Tony is sitting on a stool while the Soldier is standing near the door. Using pliers, he tried to get the shards of glass that were in his arm, when he heard someone burst through the door, almost hitting the Soldier in the face if he _wasn’t_ an assassin. Tony looked up in time to see a kid holding a potato gun at him, while the Soldier held his gun at the kid’s head. “Woah, woah, Winter! That is the one thing we don’t kill. We don’t kill kids.” Quickly turning, the kid whirled around, aiming the potato gun at the Soldier, while screaming “Freeze!”

“Do you mean that figuratively or for real, ‘cause he can tell you all about being frozen, can’t you Winter?” Smirking at the Soldier’s glare, Tony got up, putting his hands in the air when the kid turned back towards him, “what’s that thing on your chest?”

The Soldier and Tony both paused, looking at each other before Tony looked back at the kid, “it’s an electromagnet. You should know, you have a box of them right here.” 

“What does it power?” Tony paused, unsure of what to do before finally standing off the stool, lifting the lamp light towards the Iron man suit. The kid drops the potato gun immediately, a smile spreading across his face as Tony quickly gestured for the Soldier to hide his weapon. “No way! That,” he gestured to the Iron Man suit, looking at Tony excitedly, “that’s… Is that Iron Man?” 

“Technically, I am,” walking past Tony, the kid shoves a newspaper against his chest, “technically, you’re dead.” 

“Valid point, I guess…” The Soldier lowered his gun, before walking towards Tony and the kid, leaning against the table while the kid looked over the Iron Man suit. Tony already knew this was gonna be an even longer day, and he sensed the Soldier knew too from the looks he was getting.

**_______________**

What would Christmas not be without a little heat? When Tony saw the woman’s skin burn, her skin becoming orange and burning anyone in her way, Tony honestly didn’t know what to expect. This was his life though, being a superhero who had to deal with villains that used resources in the weirdest way possible. He wasn’t expecting to actually see someone, a girl on fire, walking through fire itself while burning?

All of it was making Tony want to sleep, because at this point, the Mandarin and AIM could shove this up their asses. “You walked right into this one. I’ve dated hotter chicks than you,” he ran away in time before the place caught on fire, hearing her say something about bad pick up lines and cheesy one-liners. “Well, sweetheart, that could be the name of my autobiography. Ciao.” He ran out of the building, just as everything went off, luckily, Tony at least had a small metal door to protect himself. Cap would be proud right now, it was no shield but it worked. 

Tony felt a metal hand pull him in an entirely different direction, before being tossed over a shoulder, while seeing another one of the AIM minions melting parts of the water tower. “Ya know, Soldier, I can walk just fine.” He vaguely hears gunshots ringing out before hearing a snort, “Котенок, you can’t even take care of yourself, do you honestly think I believe that?” Tony swatted the Soldier, while his eyes widened at the water tower slowly falling over, “Soldier, you're a supersoldier, please run faster, I’m begging you. Bucky!” 

They almost collided with the water but thanks to the Soldier’s speed, they narrowly avoided it, grabbing the kid dubbed Harley, along the way. Tony was gonna have to get used to that name, Harley just reminded him of Harley Quinn, probably not a bright idea. Not that the kid was crazy, it was really just the name. No hard feelings, Harley, *insert heart emojis here* if Tony could do that physically. 

He was put down swiftly before the Soldier punched the AIM minion right in the face, with his metal arm. At first, Tony was a little worried the metal would melt away but it stood strong, still knocking the guy to the ground. He grabbed the keys while the Soldier patted Harley on the head, which made Tony a little concerned but went with it, the Soldier was probably not used to showing affection to strangers. Once in the car, Tony sighed in relief, hearing the other door opening as the Soldier got in. “Listen kid, I need you to do a few things for me, kay? Great. Keep your trap shut, guard the suit, and stay connected to the phone because if I call, you better pick up. Okay?” 

“You feel that? We’re done here,” patting Harley on the shoulder, “move out of the way, or I’m running you over. Bye kid.” Closing the door, Tony looked to the side, sarcastically smiling at the glare the Soldier was giving him. The glare hardened more before Tony huffed, opening his window and looking at Harley, “I’m sorry, kid. You did good.” Harley pouted at him, and Tony knew exactly where this was going, “ok, I’m leaving. Goodbye!” Reversing out of the parking spot and speeding away before Harley or the Soldier could protest further. 

While driving, Tony could still feel eyes on him, in which Tony looked at the Soldier before looking at the road again. “What is it, murder kitten?”

“Who is Bucky?” Tony’s heart stopped short for a half of a second, he really, really should’ve known this conversation was going to happen sooner or later. He just hoped that Steve wouldn’t kill him for this. “Ok, well, for starters, Bucky is actually you. Your full name is Sergeant James Buchanan Barnes, not really a fan of the nickname “Bucky” though.”

“I didn’t know I had a name.” 

“Well, believe it or not, Winter, you do. You served in World War II, fighting beside Cap, until Hydra got its hands on you.” He heard the Soldier hmm at that, clearly thinking everything over, or possibly questioning his whole life right now. (Tony wouldn’t blame him for that, he did it all the time.) Tony did miss the way the Soldier’s face scrunched up at the name though, vaguely hearing it once or twice before. “I don’t like the name Bucky.” Tony laughed, relieved that he wasn’t the only one that didn’t like it, though Steeb would probably not appreciate that if he ever found out. 

“Me neither, Frosty, me neither.” 

After that, there was an Awesome Volume of a panic attack, a call from Harley Quinn himself, and the Soldier actually made him sleep in the back of the car with him. Tony completely ignored the way the Soldier’s gun was pressing against his thigh before the Soldier removed it. Kissing him in apologies and boy, did Tony pray that Steve would kill him.

**_______________**

Tony couldn’t decide anymore if he wanted to even find the Mandarin or fight AIM, but hey, he had the Winter Soldier. He never thought seeing the Soldier in a tight fitted white henley with the ensemble of black on black happening would be cute and hot. The black jeans didn’t do justice for the Soldier’s long legs and those magnificent thighs of his either. Sadly, he did end up wearing a black sweatshirt with a black ball cap to hide his face, which made Tony think the Soldier probably did this before. After all, he was an assassin for Hydra, he was trained for stuff like this.

He had tried to ignore the Soldier’s stare when he was changing out of the old clothes, putting on dark grey jogger pants and a regular T-shirt, zipping up the black hoodie left in the car. Along with a blue ball cap, buying a cheap pair of black sunglasses from the rack. Tony also wouldn’t tell anyone that _the Winter Soldier_ actually cooed when he had to roll the waistband of the joggers to make them fit. After that, he dragged the Soldier with him to the hardware store, in which the Soldier was fascinated with almost everything in the store. Did the Soldier actually sit in the cart while Tony pushed them along, making grabby hands for whatever Tony pointed to? Yes, he did. Best boyfriend ever. 

They found a motel, bought a room for one night and from there, Tony made some pretty good gadgets considering he didn’t have any of his tech with him. He found it immensely adorable that the Soldier wanted to help, even if he did get burned a few times and almost cut himself on one occasion. Get you a boyfriend who will help you make weapons to stop a terrorist group from turning everyone into fireplaces, because that is goals right there. The next morning, they heaved on out of the motel, got in the car, and drove on down to Miami, where the Mandarin was living. Tony was glad that he didn’t have to travel to the Middle East or Europe to find the Mandarin. The security wasn’t even good, Tony didn’t even have to break in to see that there were only one or two cameras in directions that wouldn’t catch anyone. 

“Ok, I can’t see if there are guards from this point. Winter, I need you to hoist me up and---hey!” The Soldier plucked Tony off the ground, moving him around until Tony’s legs were hanging from the Soldier’s shoulders loosely. “This works too.” Sitting comfortably on the Soldier’s shoulders, he passed the binoculars up to Tony, taking them and finding any security guards standing near the gate. “Alright, Terminator, we have two guards hanging around. You have two options, you can kill them from here or we can save your ammo and use my weapons. What do we think?”

“Mmm, save the ammo, Котенок. We’ll use it when we need it.” The Soldier kissed Tony’s inner thigh before putting him down on the ground. Tony nodded, trying to figure out an angle where they could get in, while the Soldier adjusted the straps on his vest. He spotted a wall and tugged the Soldier along, before the Soldier just hauled him over his shoulder. Tony really wanted to remind the man that he wasn’t a sack of potatoes, he was a person. Coming near the wall, Tony got up first, and he was proud to say he didn’t need any help up, the Soldier following quickly as they both walked discreetly across the lawn. Walking up the stairs, Tony brought out his first weapon, simply just a wire that was really flexible and somehow managed to loop around the guard’s feet. He winced when the man oofed to the ground before the Soldier tossed him down the stairs. 

“Winter, really?” He pointed to the body rolling down the stairs while the Soldier looked at him like _’he’s not dead, relax, look he’s fine,’_ sort of way. The next guy came up, in which Tony shot a nail at him, before tazing the second guy coming around. He let the Soldier take care of the last two, shooting them quickly before they made their way into the house. Quietly closing the door, Tony looked around, noting already how trashed the house was, and the girl passed out on the ping-pong table. They quietly walked up the stairs, hearing some drunk girl babbling about the temperature when Tony used his final weapon to take the guy. He took the gun off the table, chuckling quietly as the girl mimicked the gun motions, before leaving the room. 

They both walked into the next few rooms, seeing the tv showing the hacked tv recording. He aimed the gun at any moving objection, feeling the Soldier’s flesh hand tighten on his jacket, digging into his waist. The Soldier moved in front of him, his arm pushing Tony into his back, aiming his gun at the bed, as Tony clung onto him, gun poking out under the Soldier’s arm. The Soldier moved the blanket from the bed, revealing two women gasping at the guns aimed at them. The Soldier shushed them quietly, waving his hand at them before they both heard the toilet flush. Pushing Tony into the corner, the Soldier stood in front of him, practically towering over Tony, which didn’t help the situation at all. 

They both shared equally confused looks when they heard a man coming out, a british accent yelling cheerfully about fortune cookies. Tony rolled his eyes at the woman pointing to them both behind the bed, before sneaking out of the Soldier’s arm. “Sorry, I just can’t handle him talking about fortune cookies.”

“Hey!” The guy flung his hands out, eyes widening while the Soldier followed, and Tony was definitely going to ignore the way the girls ogled at the Soldier. “Bloody hell. Bloody hell.” 

“Don’t move.” 

“I’m not moving. You want something? Take it.” Tony frowned at the man, this guy was the Mandarin? “Although the guns are all fake because those wankers wouldn’t trust me with the real ones.” 

“What?” 

“Hey, do you fancy either of the birds?” The Soldier hung his gun loosely from his shoulder, metal arm wrapping around Tony’s middle protectively. “Ok, where’s the Mandarin? Where is he?” Loading the gun, ok, yes Tony didn’t realise it before so oops, but he was doing it now. He walked towards the man, slightly enjoying the way the man was freaking out by seeing an actual gun. “Woah, woah, woah. He’s here. He’s here, but he’s not here. He’s here, but he’s not here.” 

“Ok, bud, your not making any sense right now---”

“It’s complicated.---” the Soldier rolled his eyes, about to move forward when the guy panicked, “hey, it’s complicated.” 

“It is.” 

“It’s complicated.” Tony could hear the Soldier facepalm while he just shook his head, “Uncomplicate it. Ladies, out. Get out of the bed. Get into the bathroom. Sit.” God, it was like talking to a child, which Tony could now relate to, since Rhodey and Pepper called him a child all the time. While turning his back, Tony could hear the Soldier move, shooting just as the man moved. “Winter, don’t kill him.” 

“Котенок, he moved. It’s part of my training.” 

“Yeah, and I’m sure that dating me is part of your training too.” 

“Why are you mentioning this now? Speak,” pointing his gun at the guy, who stumbled over his words. Tony rolled his eyes, hands on his hips, looking at the man expectantly, “my name is Trevor. Trevor Slattery.” Oh Jesus, everything that Tony finally figured out was that basically the Mandarin was a lie. The Soldier, on the other hand, was thankfully wearing his mask, because Tony could tell that he was trying not to laugh. Tony was just shaking his head the whole time Trevor was talking about how he got here, basically saying Killian set the whole thing up to cover the explosions. 

“He created you?” There was a pause before Trevor nodded, “he created me.” Tony groaned, but at least some things were finally making sense. Tony was really just getting fed up at this point, clearly the guy had no idea what was going on for real. Before he could say anything, the Soldier shoved the guy out of the way, blocking the blow from the AIM minion. Sadly though, they were both knocked out cold before Tony could continue their fun, little interrogation.

**_______________**

Tony’s head hurt as he finally woke up, Maya coming into view, typing something on the computer while the Soldier was casually tied to a chair. He can swear on his whole life that the Soldier was probably untied but just enjoying the show now. He was zip tied to an empty metal bed frame, standing up vertically by the bed frame. She turned to him, smiling at him, which made Tony cringe, he really hoped that this wasn’t going anywhere. “It’s just like old times, huh?”

“Oh, yeah. With zip ties. It’s a ball.” He looked over in time to see the Soldier rolling his eyes at him, giving him the finger which only proved Tony’s idea. He mouths to the Soldier, _suck it_ when Maya’s not looking his way.

“It wasn’t my idea, Tony.” 

“Okay, so you took Killian’s card---”

“I took his money.” 

“And here you are 13 years later, in a dungeon.” There’s silence, Tony not meeting her eyes, which just proved that she definitely changed. She wasn’t the same person he had met thirteen years ago at some science conference in Switzerland. “No.”

“Yeah.” 

“No, you're in a dungeon. I’m free to go.” 

“Yeah?” He wasn’t looking at her, just looking at the Soldier, his eyes softening when meeting Tony’s eyes. It was like the Soldier was trying to calm him down during this, which Tony won’t lie, was kinda working so he tried to stay calm. Then it all went to Hell when Killian, himself, decided to join the whole circus and thank Tony about leaving him on the rooftops. It was better than trying to kill him for leaving on the rooftop, glad Tony could be of service. He was fine with everything except for the fact that they had Pepper and they had put Extremis in her, which didn’t go over so well for Tony. He wasn’t really up for Killian shooting Maya either, but it happened and Tony knew he couldn’t do anything. It was sad really, she ended up dying anyway, and he had a feeling she was going to let him go had Killian not shown up. 

Course the idiot did forget that the Soldier was there, but Tony suspected the Soldier was thinking of a plan or something. Which resulted in Killian leaving and leaving two of his goons behind to watch. While he was being watched, Tony kept looking pleadingly at the Soldier, who was sitting in the far corner, rolling his eyes at Tony before his eyes crinkled. Tony tried to bite back a smile when the Soldier smiled, almost making his lip bleed from biting so hard. They were all just waiting around when the Dora watch started beeping, Tony averted his eyes to the Soldier, who’s eyes were raised, an eyebrow raised at him. 

“Careful. That's a limited edition. Ponytail Express, what’s the mileage between Tennessee and Miami?”

“832 miles.” 

“Very nice.” He smiled sharply at the goon, watching as the Soldier was standing in the shadows, gun ready to shoot at them. Did the goons seriously forget about the Winter Soldier? Clearly everybody forgot, Killian didn’t even threaten him, seriously, it was funny to Tony right now. “You break it. Bought it.” The goon rolled his eyes at Tony, before dropping the watch and crushing it, which made Tony shake his head, _oh how cruel the world can be_. “And that’s why I’m killing you first.”

“What are you gonna do? Your zip-tied to a bed.” 

“This,” he positioned his hands up, ready to get the repulsors, only for nothing to happen. Why on earth of all days, could the suit just work, just for once in his life! “That,” nothing happened, and Tony waited, really trying not to scream in frustration. What the fuck was Harley doing? The Soldier was watching from the shadows, amusement showing all over his face while he was clutching his stomach, dying from laughter. No one could hear the Soldier but Tony really wanted to smack him right now. 

“Trust me, you’re gonna be in a puddle of blood on the ground in five, four, three… Come on! Two…” 

“Котенок! Maybe give it a minute, mm?” The Soldier walked over, ignoring the two goons’ matching expressions of confusion, while patting Tony. “Alright, I’m gonna give you a chance to escape. Put down your weapons. Tie yourselves to those chairs. I’ll let you live---”

“No, they will die. Not live.”

“Winter, baby, light of my life, savior of my metal heart, we aren’t discussing this. In five, four, bang!”

“Oh wow--”

“You should be gone by now. You should’ve already been gone.”

“I am just beyond terrified.” Tony groaned, banging his hands against the metal post, where was the suit, hello? Did Harley forget, see this is why he doesn’t want kids, this is just stating everything for him. “Here it comes. Three, four…”

“Shut up.” 

“Five, four, three, two one!” There was a crashing sound as the gauntlet went through it, while the Soldier shot one goon in the head while another piece of the suit came onto Tony’s leg. He kicked the second goon into the wall, the gun aimed at the entrance as he paused. “Where’s the rest?”

“Котенок, we don’t have time! Use what you have!” The Soldier grunted as more guards came in, shooting and kicking while Tony used the one repulsor he had. He shook his head, shooting the last goon before coming to the ground. The Soldier took his mask off, pecking Tony on the lips before moving out of the way just as the rest of the pieces came. The back pieces came in first, he grunted while turning in time to get the other pieces, “Ah! Better late than never.” 

“Mmm, be careful Котенок.” He rolled his eyes, smacking the Soldier’s chest just as they made it outside, luckily, Tony saw the face plate coming. “Not this time. Not the face,” before he could grab it, the Soldier grabbed it first, smirking at Tony before putting it on him, kissing the face plate quickly. “Phew! It’s good to be back. Hello, by the way.”

“Oh hello sir!”

“Alright let's go!” He stood waiting to take flight, but nothing happened. “Jarvis? What’s---WINTER!” The Soldier picked him, flinging him over his shoulder, walking down the stairs quickly while Tony saw the Iron Patriot flying into the sky. “J, call Rhodey” 

“Tony! Oh thank god!”

“Honeybear, please tell me that was you in the suit?” 

“No. You got yours?”

“Uhhhh….Mmm, kinda of. Winter let me down for god sake! No wait!” The Soldier started running, the armour clanking against his arm as Tony tried swatting him to stop. “Main house, as fast as you can, platypus.”

**_______________**

“I never thought people had been hurt. They lied to me.”

“This is the Mandarin?” 

“Yeah, I know, it’s… it’s embarrassing.” Rhodey scowled at the guy, holding a gun at him which didn’t really scare him. The Soldier just used his murder glare at him, glaring so hard that Trevor actually told them, (sort of), what the plan was. Something to do with the West coast, boats, and vice presidents, which Tony really didn’t want anything to do with. While Tony and Rhodey discussed transportation to the location, the Soldier grabbed poor Trevor and scared the guy half to death, which made Trevor tell them he had a boat they could use. Ten minutes later, they were all on a nice speedboat while Rhodey was frowning at the Soldier, “so, you gonna tell me who he is? Or am I gonna have to guess?”

“There’s two options there. You want the identity or the name?” 

“Both?”

“Alright well, I’ll give you the name first. He’s known as the Winter Soldier, um… oh! He works for Hydra!” 

“Tony!--”

“Let me finish! Real identity is James Buchanan Barnes, aka Steeb’s best friend, Bucky Barnes.” Rhodey facepalmed, shaking his head at what he was just told. “Why is it always you, Tones? You just have to find the bad ones. But wait, your telling me this is the guy that’s been keeping you in check whenever I’m not there.” 

“Yes?”

“Alright, I won’t kill him.” Tony looked at him, narrowing his eyes, “Rhodey, he could kill you in a thousand different ways and you wouldn’t even know it.” Rhodey rolled his eyes at him, going back to the radio to get a signal while Tony was still standing plugged in. He watched as the Soldier was outside, his long hair blowing in the wind. “You ok, Soldier?” The Soldier nodded, the mask still on but Tony didn’t need to see his face to know. He leaned his head on Tony’s shoulder, looking up at the sky, the puffy white clouds and the very blue sky. Gently taking the faceplate off along with his mask, the Soldier pulled Tony close, lips pressing against his before peppering his entire face with kisses. Tony scrunched his face up, swatting his hand at the affection which the Soldier ignored. 

“Mmm, Bucky!” Ok, saying the name again didn’t help, only encouraged the Soldier to pepper even more kisses on him.

**_______________**

Eleven lives saved later, an accident of almost getting run over by a truck, (not literally), and speeding to the location where Pepper was. They were all on a boat deck, crouching behind a bunch of crates while Rhodey was threatening Tony not to shoot him in the back. The Soldier was crouching on the ground, his gun poking into Tony’s side. “If you don’t move your gun soon, I’m shooting you in the back.”

“You like me too much.” 

“If I did, this is my way of saying let’s get married, Terminator.”

“Will you two both be quiet? We’re gonna die before anyone can get married.” Tony snickered before looking around, “ok, I’m gonna get a quick look, hold on,” popping his head up, Tony looked around, counting the bodies he saw before going back down. “Well?” 

“Ok, uh, it was like two--no wait, three people?”  
“Are you sure or are you guessing?”

“Rhodeybear, I’m guessing on my unborn child here.” Rhodey glared at him while the Soldier just poked his gun into Tony’s stomach, glaring at him. “God, I would kill for some armour right now.”

“Your right. We need backup.” 

“Котенок, are you gonna show him what you’ve been doing lately?” The Soldier shoved Tony a little, ignoring Rhodey’s suspicious look. “Yes, now don’t ruin it, Snowflake.” Before any of them could say more, there was a light shining in the sky, coming closer towards them, the closer it got, the more it multiplied. In front of them stood an army of different Iron Man suits, flying into a circle while waiting for Tony to command them. With the help of the Iron Man suits, they were able to take down all the guards before they became literal fireplaces and exploded. His Prodigy Son came one final time before hitting the ground and breaking apart during the fight with Killian. 

Tony definitely knew he was going to get shit from his winter baby for jumping into the air on too many occasions, sliding down a few beams, and getting tossed around by a guy on fire. But hey, this is what superheroes do, he’s Iron Man, like it or not. In the end, Pepper came to save the day, all glowy and shit, throwing Killian around while wearing just a sports bra and some pants that hadn’t gotten ruined at all. Unfair in Tony’s opinion, he was missing an entire sleeve of clothing. 

By the end of the day, _really long day_ , Tony had a few cuts and bruises, Rhodey safely saved the President, and Pepper was now a real human firecracker. Happy wasn’t going to be too happy about that but hey, she’s alive and well. But now, here he was, sitting on the edge of what was left of his house, looking up at the sky, while holding a paper bag with the old reactor in it. Unfortunately, even though the shrapnel was removed, he still needed the reactor since it took up a lot of space in his chest to begin with. So now, Tony had a better, more improved, reactor in, not in the shape of a circle at least. He didn’t have to know the presence standing behind him to know who it is, but he just prayed the Soldier wouldn’t forget these memories. 

He felt kisses against his spine, making Tony curl in, slightly giggling when the Soldier continued to do it. “Hey, can I tell you something?” The Soldier nodded while sitting down next to him, the mask was gone but the paint was smeared around his eyes. “Promise me, you won’t forget, no matter what happens.” It sounded like it could be a question but it was a statement, period. The Soldier’s metal hand cupped his jaw, forcing Tony to look his way, “Котенок, you know I can’t promise that, but I will try.” 

He kissed Tony, making him relax more, and for once, Tony actually believed he would stay but knew it wouldn’t be like this for long. There were bigger things coming, and Tony wanted to be ready for it.

**_______________**

“I mean, this is what gets people sick, you know. Wow, I had no idea you were such a good listener. To be able to share all my intimate thoughts and experiences with someone, it just cuts the weight of it in half. You know, it’s like a snake swallowing its own tail. Everything comes full circle. And the fact that you’ve been able to help me process….” Tony turned to Bruce, realizing now that he definitely wasn’t paying attention. Bruce looked like he had just woken up from a nap or something, “Are you actively napping?”

“I was...I… I drifted.”

“Where did I lose you?” Tony frowned at him, while lying across the couch, “elevator in Switzerland.” 

“So, you heard none of it.” 

“I’m sorry. I’m not that kind of doctor. I’m not a therapist. It’s not my training.”

“So?”

“I-I don’t have the…”

“What? The time?”

“Oh, I remember that time in 1989, I had a nanny---” Bruce groaned, clearly Tony was forgetting that this was not his training.

But they were Science Bros….

**Author's Note:**

> Russian Translation:  
> Котенок - Kitten/kitty
> 
> I had a very hard time deciding whether Tony should have the arc reactor removed or not since he got it removed in the movie. I really like him with the reactor though so I decided to keep it.


End file.
